Insecurity is one of the biggest challenges to overcome–with anything.
If you listen closely, whenever someone says they don’t want to do something, or it just “isn’t who they are,” there is often an underlying layer of insecurity holding them back. These are the people who say, “I really want to put myself out there, I just, I don’t know, video isn’t really my thing.” If it’s not, all good. We all express ourselves in different ways. But if you want to do something, or know you need to do something, it’s worth asking yourself where that hesitation is coming from.
Often times, it’s rooted in insecurity.
Such a tricky word, insecurity. We’ve made it sound like such a bad thing, when in reality it simply means you haven’t quite found your footing yet–and that’s OK. You aren’t “secure” yet with the endeavor. And whenever you are starting something new, or taking a leap into the unknown, you’re going to feel insecure. It takes time to find your ground.
I had a lot of insecurities growing up. A lot. I was the super skinny kid who got made fun of. I was insecure about my voice because I hit puberty so late. I was insecure about my self-worth because I didn’t really have anything I felt “great” at. I was insecure about my writing before I collected any “accolades.” And it took achieving something in relation to each one of those insecurities for me to start seeing the common thread. When I was insecure about not being “amazing” at anything, and I became one of the highest ranked World of Warcraft players in North America, I learned something about myself. When I was insecure about being super skinny, and then transformed myself into a 170lb fitness model with 7% body fat, I learned something about myself. When I was insecure about my voice and then started putting out music projects, I learned something about myself. When I was insecure about my writing, and then ended up becoming Quora famous racking up over 13,000,000 answer views, I learned something about myself.
All of those experiences made me see the process for overcoming any insecurity.
If you feel insecure about something, go become that. Step out of your comfort zone and explore that territory that makes you feel strange, or makes you feel like you aren’t “good enough.” Because when you in some way “become” the very thing that you were once insecure about, you know it. You learn about it. You empower yourself with knowledge and you never look at it the same way ever again.
People get intimidated when they see something they don’t understand. They fear that which they do not know. Insecurity, by definition, means you are on foreign territory.
So, with that in mind, the answer to overcoming any insecurity is knowledge. It’s self exploration. You learn acceptance by allowing yourself to touch, feel, and experience what it is you fear.
And when you come out the other side, you will no longer feel threatened.
Originally published at www.inc.com